Cradle for machine tools such as rock drills and the like



Aug. 10 ,'192e\ 1,595,938 J. L. HOLMAN ET AL CRADLE FOR MACHINE TOOLSSUCH AS ROCK DRILLS AND THE LIKE Filed April 13 l92f -2 Sheets-Sheet 1J. L. HOLMAN ET AL CRADLE FOR MACHINE TOOLS SUCH AS ROCK DRILLS AND THELIKE ile p l 15. 1925.- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 10, 1926.

UNITED STATEfi Parana" orricn.

JOHN LEONARD HOLMAN AND AETQEIUB TREVE HOLMAN, OF CAIVIBORNE, ENGLAND,.ASSIGNORS TO HDLMAN BROTHERfi LIMITED, 013 OAMBORNE, ENGLAND, A BRITISHCOMPANY.

CRADLE FOR MACHINE TOOLS SUCH AS ROCK DBI'LLS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed April 13, 1925, Serial No.

This invention consists in improvements in or relating to cradles formachine tools such for example as rock drills, pneumatic hammers,riveting machines and the like, the cradles having in or on them one ormore slideways in or on which the tool or certain parts thereof mayslide bodily. Generally speaking in a rock drill the cradle has withinita lead-screw by which the rock drill is traversed in the cradle so asto keep it up to its work.

It is found that the bearingsurface or surfaces of the slideway orslideways in such cradles are liable to wear and to impair the accuracywith which the tool will slide withr in the cradle. An object of theinvention is to provide improved means to overcome this drawback.

It has previously been proposed to accomvmodate for the wear in variousways. According to one proposal the channel member forming the slidewayor one of its walls was to be bodily adjustable on the cradle. Also ithas been proposed in the case when only a wall of the cradle wasadjustable to se-' cure that wall in its adjusted position by means of abolt extending from it through an elongated slot in an adjacent part ofthe cradle.

According to one feature of the present invention in orfor a cradle ofthe type above described having in ita slideway affording two surfaceswhich are disposed in planes inclined to one another and one of which isintended to support an under-sun face of a member to be received in thesaid slideway (for example the under-surface of a part of' a rock drillor the like which is supported by the cradle), there is a onepiece linerto 'overli'e said surfaces and to provide the necessary bearing surfaceupon which the member will slide and means for adjusting the said linerbodily to compensate for wear of the bearing surface.

Both of the surfaces above referred to may be intended as bearingsurfaces in which case the liner will provide both such surfaces.

According to another feature of the invention the slideway is of channelform which in addition to the bearing surfaces for the under and lateralparts above referred to pro vide also bearing surfaces in the otherwalls 22,921, and in Great Britain May 28, 1924.

of thechannel. The two surfaces above described as being disposed ininclined planes will constitute respectively one wall of the channel anda part which extends from and beyond the outer edge of that wall.

Conveniently the adjustment of the liner is effected by the aid ofadjusting means cooperating with that portion which faces or bearsagainst a lateral surface of the mem her which is supported in thecradle.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood a descriptionwill now be given, by way of example only, of one preferred constructionillustrated in the acconr panying drawings, in which Figure 1illustrates half in section and half in end elevation a cradle with aliner shown in position in the half which is in section. The sectionis'taken on the line 11 of Figure 3;

Figure 2 is a side view of a portion of the cradle viewed from the rightof Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a plan of the part shown in Figure 1 showingonly an endportion of the cradle.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in the several figures ofthe drawings.

The cradle illustrated is of a known type in which, along each side ofthe cradle there is a longitudinal channel 10, the walls of which serveas bearing surfaces for a flange or the like extending laterally fromthe tool to be supported in the cradle. Extending from and beyond theouter edge of-the lower' surfaces 20 of each channel is a wall 11inclined at an angle to the surface 20 and facing a lateral portion ofthe tool. At intervals along the length of the wall 11 apertures 12 areformed passing completely through that wall.

The liner hereinhefore referred to comprises for each channel a singlepiece of lining metal or the like referred to as a whole by thereference numeral 13 and it will be seen that this liner has twoinclined portions which overlie the surface 20 and the outer surface ofthe wall 11 respectively.

.Bolts 14, the heads of which are embedded in that member of the lineroverlying the wall 11, extend through each of the apertures 12 and nuts15 co-operating with the outer ends of the .bolts 14 on the outside ofthe walls 11 serve to clamp the liners in position. I

The apertures 12 are larger in diameter than the bolts 14 so as topermit the bolts to slide bodily therein and at the same time to enablethat portion of the liner 13 which overlies the bottom wall of thechannel 10 to be raised or moved towards the opposite wall thereof.

In the lower angle of the channel there is an inclined wall 16, theinclination of which corresponds to that of the wall 11 relatively tothe lower wall of the channel and the engaging angle of the liner 13 iscorrespondingly cham-fered so that as the liner is moved bodily asupporting engagement will always be maintained between the chamferededge of the liner and the wall 16.

It will thus be seen that as wear occurs in the bearing surfaces of theslideways this wear can be accommodated by adjusting the linersaccordingly.

The apertures 12 are not necessarily circular but in cross-section areelongated in the direction of the height of the walls 11. Thisconstruction is illustrated in the drawings.

It is obvious that the details of construction may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. A machine-tool cradle having a channel formed in an integral part ofthe cradle for receiving a member constituting part of a machine-tool,which cradle affords two supporting surfaces disposed at an angle to oneanother for said member, one of which supporting surfaces is constitutedby an inner face of said channel, in combination with a one-piece lineroverlying said supporting surfaces and providing two bearing surfacesfor said member, and means for adjusting said liner bodily to compensatefor wear of the bearing surfaces.

2. A machine-tool cradle having a channel slideway formed in an integrallateral part of the cradle for receiving a member constituting part of amachine-tool, which cradle affords two supporting surfaces disposed atan angle to one another for said member, one of which supportingsurfaces is constituted by an inner face of said slideway, incombination with a one-piece liner overlying said supporting surfacesand providing two bearing surfaces for said memher, and means foradjusting said liner bodily to compensate for wear of the bearingsurfaces.

3. A machine-tool cradle having a channel slideway formed in an integralpart of the cradle for receiving a member constituting part of amachine-tool and affording two bearing surfaces whereof one constitutesan inner face of a wall of the channel and the second is on a part whichextends from and beyond one outer edge of the channel and at an obtuseangle to the first bearing surface, a one-piece liner for said bearingsurfaces, and means to adjust the said liner bodily in relation to theother walls of the channel to compensate for wear of the liner.

4:. A machine-tool cradle having a channel formed in a lateral integralpart of the cradle for receiving a member constituting part of amachine-tool, which cradle affords for said member two supportingsurfaces that lie in the direction of length of the cradle and aredisposed at an angle to one another, one of which supporting surfaces isconstituted by an inner face of said chan nel, in combination with aone-piece liner overlying said supporting surfaces and providing twobearing surfaces for said member, and a plurality of bolts extendingeach through a slot in the wall of the cradle and arranged to adjustsaid liner bodily to compensate for wear of the bearing surfaces.

5. A machine-tool cradle having a channelslideway formed in an integrallateral part of the cradle for receiving a member constituting part of amachine-tool and affording two bearing surfaces whereof one constitutesan inner face of a wall of the channel and the second is on a part whichextends from and beyond one outer edge of the channel and at an obtuseangle to the first bearing surface, a one-piece liner for said bearingsurfaces, and a plurality of bolts extending each through a slot in thewall of the cradle and co-acting each with that part of the linerproviding the second bearing surface and arranged to adjust said linerbodily to compensate for wear of the bearing surfaces.

6. A machine-tool cradle having a slideway formed in an integral lateralpart of the cradle for receiving a member constitutlng part of themachine-tool and affording three supporting surfaces whereof two whichare parallel to one another are situated spaced apart one at each sideof the third and one above and the other below the third when the latteris horizontal, in combination with a one-piece liner having three facesoverlying each one of said supportlng faces and providing two bearingsurfaces for said member, and means for adjusting said liner bodily tocompensate for wear of the bearing surfaces.

7. For use with a cradle of the character described having a laterallydisposed slideway for receiving a member constituting part of amachine-tool, which slideway affords two supporting surfaces disposed atan obtuse angle one to the other, a one-piece liner of obtuse angleshape in cross-section constituting a wearing plate having a flangealong one side thereof, which wearing plate and flange are arranged tolie respectlvely on said supporting surfaces and afford two bearingsurfaces for slidably receiving said member, substantially as described.

8. For use with a cradle of the character described having a slidewayformed on an integral lateral part of the cradle for receiving a memberconstituting part of a machine-to0l, which slideway extends in thedirection of length of the cradle, and affords two supporting surfacesdisposed at an obtuse angle one to the other, a one-piece liner ofobtuse angle shape in cross-section constituting a wearing plate havinga flange along one side thereof, which wearing plate and flange arearranged to lie respectively on said supporting surfaces and afford twobearing surfaces disposed at an obtuse angle one to the other forslidably receiving said member, which wearing plate is chamfered alongthat free edge thereof which adjoins the side of the plate intended tolie on one of said supporting surfaces, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

JOHN LEONARD HOLMAN. ARTHUR TREVE HOLMAN.

